Minor Basilica - Other Minor Basilicas

Other Minor Basilicas

The minor basilicas form the vast majority, including some cathedrals, many technically parish churches, some shrines, and some abbey or convent churches. Some oratories and semi-private places of worship, have been raised to the status of a minor basilica, such as Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral in Quebec City was the first basilica in North America, so designated by Pope Pius IX in 1874. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis became the first Basilica in the United States, designated in 1926, by Pope Pius XI. In Colombia, the Las Lajas Cathedral has been a minor basilica since 1954. In Africa, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, in Cote d'Ivoire is reported to be slightly larger than St Peter's Basilica.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, is considered the second most important sanctuary of Roman Catholicism, second to the Vatican City on the basis of the number of pilgrims it hosts each year (between 12 and 20 million). The Sanctuary of Lourdes in France, with several basilicas, receives between 5 and 6 million pilgrims each year.

There was a pronounced tendency in the 20th century to increase the number of churches that were granted the title of minor basilica. Examples among the many are the church containing Francisco Franco's tomb and those of many others in the monumental Valley of the Fallen near Madrid, the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, in Carmel, California, Manila Cathedral (also known as the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros or the original Spanish settlement of Manila), and the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. Towards the end of the century, stricter rules were applied and it was decided, for instance, that since cathedrals outrank basilicas in any case, the title of minor basilica would no longer be granted to them.